


Phone Call History

by mrs_berry



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Attempt at Humor, Awkward, Awkward Flirting, Bad Puns, Cat Puns, Episode: s03 Oblivio, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Identity Reveal, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, Minor Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Oblivio - Freeform, Post-Episode: s03 Oblivio, Probably won't be angsty, Reveal, adrienette - Freeform, all sides of the love square will be in this fic, ladrien, love square, more like happy, no Chloe or Lila, partial reveal, post-Oblivio, puns, these children are so oblivious I swear, was a oneshot but now a multi-chaptered fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2019-12-18 15:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18252449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrs_berry/pseuds/mrs_berry
Summary: What happens when Marinette and Adrien discover their phone call history after the Oblivio akuma attack?Results: Marinette has a meltdown, Adrien is thankful for his caring friend, Plagg is fed up, and Tikki is the voice of reason that may help save this disastrous couple once and for all.





	1. Tikki's Trangression

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: If the occasional swear word or hormonal teenagers bother you, perhaps it would be best not to read this fic.

"Ugh, I can't believe Alya posted that photo for the world to see," Marinette groaned for the fifth time that hour.

Tikki had long given up on responding to her holder on this topic, realizing that her subtle advice was being utterly ignored. If only Marinette would do more critical thinking about reasons she would kiss Chat, then she might actually make some progress towards discovering his true identity.

Sadly, this was not likely to happen anytime soon.

Marinette ruffled her hair in frustration, startled when her phone beeped to indicate it had charged enough to turn on.

Finally, Marinette could call Alya and scold her for posting the photo on Ladybug's and Chat Noir's behalf. It wasn't safe for Hawkmoth to learn of their close relationship, even if it occurred in a time where neither Ladybug or Chat remembered anything. It was still too dangerous to share in her mind. Plus, and perhaps more importantly, she didn't want Chat being able to look at it whenever he wants and get his hopes up all over again. Marinette may not have feelings for her partner but that didn't mean she would want him to feel his chances were any higher for it would only hurt him more if she had to reject him again.

After opening up her phone app, her eyes immediately bulged when they flitted to the second most recent call she had made: Adrien Agreste, outgoing call, 1:27pm.

Marinette squeaked as she reread the name that was definitely there and then felt her hands fumble, causing the phone to fly out of her hands and onto the floor a few feet away.

"Marinette! What happened?" Tikki flew over to the panicked hero.

Marinette opened her mouth and tried to form coherent words but all that came put of her mouth was garbled gibberish.

Smirking in amusement at Marinette's usual antics and realizing she was mostly fine, Tikki went over to look at the phone herself, coming to the obvious conclusion that Marinette's cause of hysteria was due to something shocking on her phone.

Tikki stifled a gasp when she looked at the screen, seeing Plagg's chosen was in her call list during the akuma fight. Tikki's gears turned quickly as she realized that her chosen may have made the connection that Adrien was Chat's secret identity.

"Marinette, just breath. Nothing has changed. You'll just have to be on guard to make sure no one finds out the truth," Tikki spoke softly, floating over and touching Marinette's flushed cheek.

Marinette froze, then slowly looked at Tikki. She took a few breaths, putting her hand to her heart as if to slow its rapid beating.

"Wha—but, huh—how?"

"Don't worry, we will get through this, Marinette. I know that now you probably want to tell Chat your identity too, but first you need to calm down and get your thoughts together..."

Marinette eyes flitted around wildly as Tikki continued to speak (unbeknownst to Marinette), still trying to process the overload of information running through her mind. She had called Adrien during her memory loss period because she was so concerned about him, obviously. But it was so embarrassing to think he had a missed call on his phone and maybe she even left a voicemail and maybe she said something completely stupid like she did with her last (unintentional) voicemail and maybe she could delete the voicemail like she did last time but what if that didn't work and then she had to leave the country because how on earth could she remain in France with whatever embarrassing words she had spouted during the time when she wasn't her usual self and what if—

"Marinette!"

"Eeee!" Marinette leaped back in surprise, finally re-entering reality.

Tikki sighed in exasperation.

"As I was saying, Adrien may not have realized it yet. Give it a few days and see if he acts differently. He may need time to process it, just like you."

Marinette took a moment to try to puzzle together what Tikki was talking about, but it was to no avail. Still, her mind was beginning to clear a bit after spiralling.

"Why would I give it a few days? I need to act now!" Marinette declared with Ladybug determination and a fist raised.

"I really think you should wait, Marinette," Tikki advised. Gently, she added, "But I trust your judgment. If you are ready to tell Adrien that you're his partner in crime-fighting, then I'm here for you every step of the way."

Marinette's eyes bugged out and she choked.

"WAIT, WHAT?" she shrieked, hands flying to her head to keep it from exploding off of her shoulders. "ADRIEN IS MY PARTNER IN CRIME-FIGHTING, AS IN HE'S CHAT NOIR?!"

It was at that moment that Tikki realized she had fucked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first Miraculous Ladybug fic. I knew it would happen eventually, I am deep in the MLB fandom now. Absolute trash. And a total Oblivio addict.
> 
> By the way, I realize that her phone history may have been erased by the Miraculous Ladybugs but seeing as Alya's phone still had the LadyNoir kiss photo, Marinette and Adrien having their phone history seems believable to me.
> 
> Also I have seen fics where Adrien checks his phone history, but I have not seen one for Marinette so that's why I decided to write this. Kudos are greatly appreciated, comments are as amazing as Adrien knows Marinette is. ;) Thanks for reading!


	2. Plagg's Petulance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My husband and I had some ideas for continuing this fic and after some encouragement from a very kind commenter, I have decided to go for it. I hope you enjoy!

It was a warm night for a patrol. Chat Noir's palms felt clammy as he waited patiently for his Lady.

Right on schedule, he heard the soft thump as his partner landed on the roof he was sitting on.

"Good evening, My Lady," Chat leapt to his feet gracefully, turning to Ladybug with a large grin on his face.

His grin fell as he saw the somber look in her eyes.

"Chat, we need to talk," she spoke gently. Fear surged through his veins from worry.

"About?" He swallowed, his voice sounding hoarse.

Lightly placing her hand on his shoulder, her lips twitched as she tried to hold back her smile. Her silly kitty was worried for nothing.

"I know who you are," she admitted rather shyly. Before he could respond, she added, "And it turns out that you're the boy that I told you about before. The one I have feelings for."

His eyes widened as she finally let her smile spread across her face. After the words fully sunk in, the smile that grew on his face rivalled hers.

He threw his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace, his nose buried in her hair and inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo.

He slowly pulled back to look into her bluebell eyes. Her eyes flickered to his lips and he felt desire pool in his chest. Leaning forward slightly, his eyes slipped close as he saw her do the same. Gently, their lips brushed together in a kiss sweeter than honey.

"Snap out of it! I need cheeeeese!"

Adrien blinked as reality came crashing back to him. Sadly, he was back in his room and still single as a pringle.

But that didn't mean he hadn't kissed Ladybug. It just wasn't a kiss that he actually remembered.

"I still can't believe I kissed Ladybug," Adrien murmured dreamily. He stared up in utter awe at the beautiful photograph surrounding his vision on his computer screens.

Plagg was fed up. There was not enough camembert in the world to convince him to listen to this lovestruck teenager for a second longer. "And yet, you're no closer to being lovers. How sad."

Adrien ignored his kwami's mocking tone. Nothing could burst his happy bubble at this point.

Adrien's charging phone vibrated on his desk and the boy on cloud nine picked it up and typed out a distracted reply to Nino's text. Adrien flicked away most of the notifications he missed while his phone had been dead; they were not important.

He mindlessly continued swiping away until he came across his missed calls. He brought up the phone app to view his call history. At the top, he read: Marinette Dupain-Cheng, missed call, 1:27pm. Underneath he saw an outgoing call to his father that had not been answered at 1:24pm.

Adrien furrowed his eyebrow in thought. The call he made and the one he missed were during the Oblivio akuma attack. Why would he call his father? Maybe to ask for help?

The call from Marinette was a little unusual, but it probably made sense. He had disappeared and she was probably just worried for her friend.

 _What a wonderful friend she is_ , he thought, his heart warming.

Plagg floated over and peeked at his chosen's phone. He smirked and decided to mess with Adrien.

"Oooh a call from pigtails! I wonder what she wanted?"

"Marinette? I'm sure she was just concerned about where I went during the akuma attack," Adrien replied with an affectionate smile that did not escape Plagg's notice.

Plagg almost gagged. How was this kid so blind about his love for his "friend"? This "friend" who also happened to be Ladybug, whom he was in love with. Was Plagg destined to deal with this crap for years? He certainly hoped not. It was getting harder every day to watch these oblivious, awkward children around each other.

"Riiiiight," he drawled. "Well, maybe you should ask her about it, just in case it was something important."

Adrien shook his head. "If it was important, she would have left a voicemail."

"You should ask anyway," Plagg pushed, sighing internally. He wished Adrien would get better at taking hints.

The boy quirked an eyebrow. Why was Plagg suggesting this? He seemed oddly invested in this conversation. It even seemed like he had momentarily forgotten about his demand for cheese.

"Sure, I'll ask when I see her next," Adrien said, brushing off that line of thought and returning to thoughts of his Lady. "Anyway, I just wish I knew who Ladybug's civilian self is. She's stubborn about not dating as superheroes, but seeing as she kissed me during Oblivio, I feel more confident that she can fall for me again. I just need to try a different approach since the superhero one is clearly not as effective due to her dedicated sense of responsibility." _She also likes somebody she knows in her civilian life_ , the back of his mind reminded him. He shook it off, though. He would worry about that later. 

Plagg was a little surprised. For once, it sounded like his holder had a decent plan. The issue was there was no way he was going to figure out Marinette is Ladybug, based on this conversation and every other conversation before that.

"Good luck finding out her identity, kid," Plagg snorted, finished with this topic for now. "Now, pass me some goddamn cheese already."

Adrien rolled his eyes, put down his phone to grab some cheese from his desk drawer, and tossed his kwami's favourite smelly treat to him. Popping a large piece in his mouse and swallowing it whole, Plagg let out a satisfied sigh.

Adrien returned to resting his chin in his hands with his elbows on his desk, and dreamily stared at the perfect picture adorning his three computer monitors again. Thank goodness for Alya's knack for anything Ladybug-related. He wished he could thank her a thousand times for her good deed.

As he continued fantasizing about the kiss, he began to think that maybe he should print and frame this masterpiece. Then he could forever be reminded of the kiss between him and his lady love. And he could work towards the goal of kissing her yet again, this time with their memories still fully intact. Third time's the charm, right?

Little did he know, Oblivio was ultimately the turning point in his partnership with his Lady and his friendship with his pigtailed friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally there was no daydream in this chapter, but my husband felt the chapter was lacking (and I agreed) so he suggested I add it in. I'm so lucky to have such a helpful and supportive husband. And also to receive such kind comments!
> 
> Again, kudos give me life and comments are heavenly. Bookmarks are also amazing, too!


	3. Words of Wisdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tikki is the much needed voice of reason for a frazzled Marinette.

Marinette paced around her room restlessly, clutching her hair and ruffling it, making her hair extremely messy—a true reflection of her inner turmoil.

Messy hair, messy heart.

For the umpteenth time, Marinette spun towards her kwami, squeaking out, "A-Adrien is Chat?!" before returning to her endless pacing. It was a rhetorical question at this point as this revelation had already been confirmed as fact by Tikki, who had seen Chat Noir de-transform into Adrien Agreste during the Dark Owl akuma attack.

A fact that Marinette was desperately struggling to process.

"Chat Noir is actually Adrien Agreste," she muttered to herself this time, still pacing, and scratching dramatically at her hair again.

Finally, after about half an hour of this, Marinette plopped gracelessly onto her lounge chair, utterly mentally exhausted.

"This must be a dream," she mumbled, eyes glazed.

"Marinette! It's real and it's not a bad thing!" Tikki piped up, floating directly in Marinette's line of sight. She was not about to let her holder regress to denial. Her initial outburst and nervous pacing was more than enough to deal with.

"But, I-I just don't understand..."

"What part?"

"My crush, Adrien. My partner, Chat. They're... _one person_?" Marinette asked inquisitively, wondering if she somehow misunderstood.

"Yes, they are. And always have been," Tikki assured firmly.

"But Adrien is so kind and reserved, such a good boy. And Chat is... well he is kind, too, but the furthest thing from reserved. He is a flirtatious dork who has a questionable sense of humour. Besides, he's more like a bad boy than a good one, isn't he?"

"Marinette, just think for a moment. You have seen firsthand how sincere Chat's feelings are for Ladybug. For example, the candlelit dinner he planned for Ladybug, who is _you_ by the way, and turning down your civilian self for your superhero self, who he thinks are different people. But if he knew you were the same person, then he—"

"Right... Adrien likes Ladybug. Not me," Marinette whispered, tears welling up in her eyes at the realization, thoughts already beginning to spiral downward, tuning out Tikki's speech.

Tikki noticed and screamed internally. "You **are** Ladybug!!" Tikki raised her voice. She was not going to let her amazing holder put herself down for a second longer. She was too protective of this wonderful girl, even when she was being ridiculously obtuse. "And you didn't let me finish!"

Marinette dabbed at her teary eyes, reminding herself not to interrupt this time. She knew better than to mess with Tikki when she was serious or seriously annoyed. "Sorry, Tikki, please continue."

"Thank you. Now, as I was saying, if Adrien knew you and Ladybug were the same person, he would be able to openly admit that he feels more than friendship for you. But since he doesn't know, he's forced to lie to himself about his feelings for you as your civilian self to avoid the guilty feelings of loving two people at the same time. Make sense?"

Marinette did not look entirely convinced yet, but she nodded, eager to hear more.

"How do I know he has feelings for you? Well, Chat may be flirty, but he mostly flirts with _you_ , both in and out of your costume. But when he isn't wearing his mask, Adrien acts far less flirty and doesn't really flirt with anyone, and yet, he has flirted with _you_ , Marinette, on several occasions. Do you see the pattern?"

"Wait, what?! W-when has he...?" A blush crept up Marinette's neck as she wracked her brain for when on Earth he could have flirted with her. Surely she would have noticed... wouldn't she?

Tikki shook her head, not at all surprised by Marinette's reaction. She really needed to make this girl see the facts and it seemed the only way, at this point, was to list them.

"He winked at you when he complimented your feather hat. He leaned in awfully close to you and complimented your macarons. He leaned in awfully close to you again when he teased you after he found out you had posters of him all over your room. He makes physical contact with you a lot, like patting your shoulder, or holding your hand, or dancing with you at Chloé's party. Based on that loving kiss yesterday, he fell for you during the Oblivio attack when neither of you had your memories, during which you had definitely de-transformed and worked together as your civilian selves, before transforming again later. These are just a small handful of examples. I could go on, but we have other matters to address."

Marinette was stunned and red-faced, with her eyes widened in disbelief. She chewed on her lips as she fondly mulled over those precious memories.

"Marinette, you haven't noticed all of this because you have been too blinded by your crush on him. You've put him on a pedestal and convinced yourself you're not good enough for him, and that there is no way he would ever fall for you. But he has fallen for you—twice, in fact. He is just unaware of his feelings for you, Marinette, because exactly like how you are blinded by your love for him, he is also blinded by his love for Ladybug. But the undeniable truth is that Adrien also loves you, _Marinette_ , and you also love _Chat Noir_ , even if neither of you are ready to admit to it."

Marinette opened and closed her mouth, attempting to push words out of her lips, but only managing to expel air and strangled gasps.

Before Marinette could form words, Tikki continued, "Anyway, Marinette, going back to the topic of Adrien and Chat Noir being the same person. Adrien is more reserved likely due to his image as a model and being the son of Gabriel Agreste. Meanwhile Chat Noir has the freedom to be silly and eccentric because his identity is a secret. But I don't think you even like Adrien for the fact that he is reserved. You fell for his kindness and carefree laughter that time he lent you his umbrella, right?"

Marinette managed a weak nod. Tikki was on a roll and Marinette badly wanted her to continue. It was making an astounding amount of sense and helping her feel much better.

"Another thing you mentioned was sense of humour. Again, Chat Noir has the freedom to make silly jokes and be embarrassing. Adrien likely has to be careful to maintain an image of maturity, for the same reason that he is more reserved. Yet, Adrien has slipped a bad joke here or there. As an example, after the Darkblade akuma, Adrien made the pun, 'What a knightmare,' as he dramatically passed by. It was easy to miss but that was definitely a silly pun that he let loose, even if I was the only one to fully notice it," Tikki explained with a chuckle.

Marinette let out a giggle, too. She really hadn't noticed at the time as she was too busy lying to Chloé about becoming a knight in order to preserve her secret.

"Finally, about Chat Noir being a bad boy... you don't actually believe that, do you? Someone as loyal, protective, and sweet as him—there's no way he's anything but a good boy."

Marinette had to agree. And damn if Tikki wasn't right about everything. Still, if Marinette had her head on straight and used a logical thought process, she would have come to the same conclusions eventually. Probably. But thanks to Tikki, she didn't have to stress and overthink about all of that on her own. Tikki saved her from the anguish and Marinette was once again reminded how lucky she was to have such a thoughtful and loving kwami.

After several quiet minutes of processing and analyzing everything that Tikki had covered in her monologue, Marinette took a deep breath, finally ready to discuss the next course of action.

"Okay, so I know the truth about Chat and Adrien. But what now? Should I still keep my identity a secret from him to try and keep him and Paris as safe as possible?"

Tikki smiled fondly at her responsible chosen. She was so proud of her; even after finding out her crush is now attainable, she was still putting the safety of everyone else first.

Shaking her head, Tikki said, "No, I don't think that is necessary anymore. You will both have to be very careful, though, with the knowledge of such a delicate secret."

"So what? I should just suddenly tell him I'm Ladybug?" Marinette looked apprehensive and yet hopeful.

"You could, though it would be quite a big shock. It might be better if his kwami tells him. However, as that is highly unlikely to happen knowing Plagg, it may be best if he finds out for himself... The boy is as blind as you though, so he would need some help with figuring it out," Tikki said with an air of wisdom. Then again, everything she said was so wise. There was a minor insult thrown in there, but Marinette couldn't find it in herself to be mad, because it really was true that she was painfully oblivious sometimes.

"Then do you think I should try dropping some hints?" Marinette asked.

"It's worth a shot! You should do it," Tikki encouraged. "Tomorrow at school, just muster your Ladybug persona in front of Adrien and he will become putty in your hands, I guarantee it. He loves your courage, wit, and strength of conviction. Once you lay that on him as your civilian self, it shouldn't be too long before he recognizes who his partner really is. And then you two can _finally_ start dating." At least, that is what Tikki dearly hoped. She never wanted to see another one of her holders suffer ever again. She wouldn't allow it.

Marinette blushed at the dating comment. Would it really be as easy as it sounded?

Only one way to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I know this probably wasn't a fun/funny chapter but it was sorely needed to move the plot forward. And I think Tikki said what we would all like to say to these children. At least, I know I want to. 😂
> 
> Next chapter we will finally have some Adrienette interaction, so get ready for that!
> 
> And again: kudos, bookmarks, and comments put me on cloud nine! I love them and cherish them. ❤


	4. Baby Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette speaks to Adrien for the first time since learning the truth about his alter ego.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't actually had much time to work on this fic since I've been working on Adrinette April every single day. Which means I only have a small part of chapter 5 written and I'm not a whole chapter ahead like I want to be... I'll try and get some more writing done for it now that it's the weekend though. But I probably won't have time to work on it on weekdays. Sorry in advance if my updates become a little less frequent (e.g., weekly instead of every few days).
> 
> Without further ado, please enjoy chapter 4!

The next day, Marinette had made it her mission to make it to class on time. She was hoping to talk to Adrien about the phone call as a way to initiate a conversation.

Adrien.

Nerves bubbled up at the thought of chatting casually with her swoon-worthy crush. Every time she felt herself about to hyperventilate, she had to remind herself of his other identity.

Chat Noir.

Remembering that Adrien was her punny, dorky partner seemed effective for easing her anxiety. All she had to do was banter with Adrien like she did with her kitty. Should be easy, breezy.

Key word: _should_.

Marinette took a few deep breaths to calm herself, before quietly opening the door to find the classroom mostly empty. Ivan was listening to music, Nathaniel was drawing, and Rose and Juleka were too engaged in their own conversation to notice anything else. This was fortunate, hopefully no one would ruin this perfect opportunity.

Finally, her eyes settling on the person of interest, she squealed internally. He was there already and seemed to be looking intently at his phone. Secretly, a part of her had hoped he wouldn't be there so that she could postpone speaking to him and maybe have more time to build up her courage.

 _Perhaps I should leave after all? This is going to be a disaster if I go through with this!_ Anxious thoughts started swirling through her mind again.

No one had noticed her at the door, so no one would find it weird if she fled, right?

Marinette felt Tikki shift in her purse and she could almost hear the imaginary cheers and support that her kwami was giving her. Luckily, that managed to give her a small boost of confidence and stopped her from chickening out.

_Here goes nothing._

"Hey Adrien," Marinette smiled and waved as she walked up to him. So far, so good.

"Hi Marinette, you're here early today," he observed with a smile and Marinette could swear literal rays of sunshine poured forth from him. He was practically an angel.

 _Focus, girl!_ her inner Alya scolded.

Grinning sheepishly, she took her seat, causing him to shift around to look at her when she replied.

"Y-yeah, I slept pretty well despite yesterday's akuma attack," Marinette lied, silently cursing her initial stutter. She hadn't actually slept well and hated lying about it, but she couldn't exactly tell him the real reason without revealing everything way too soon.

"Oh yeah? That's good to hear," Adrien said, then paused for a moment before continuing, "Speaking of the akuma attack, it seems I missed a call from you and I just was wondering what you wanted to talk to me about?" He tilted his head curiously.

_He is so cute. That head tilt is adorable. So adorable, it should be illegal._

Shaking away her distracted thoughts again, she carefully decided on how to answer. "I'm sorry, I don't remember why I called because I was hit by the akuma."

Adrien's heart thumped a little painfully. It seemed she hadn't called him because she was worried. "Oh. I guess it was just a pocket dial then," he muttered, sounding oddly forlorn. He had been confident when he told Plagg that her reason for calling was because she was worried about him, but it seemed he was wrong.

"Maybe, I'm not sure... But I was wondering why you didn't answer? I-if you don't mind me asking." Marinette was genuinely curious about this phone call mystery, but seeing as Adrien is Chat, it meant that he had also been hit by the akuma and wouldn't know the answer. Still, she needed to keep the conversation going and she would do whatever she could to make it happen.

"Sorry Marinette, I was hit by the akuma, too, so I have no idea. My phone was dead by the time the akuma was defeated though, so that could be why," Adrien speculated.

To keep some level of privacy, Marinette lowered her voice, "Well, I'm just really glad that you're okay. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you," Marinette admitted, fidgeting with her fingers out of Adrien's sight.

Adrien was momentarily shocked, before a small grin appeared on his face.

Hoping that no one else was paying her any attention, she batted her eyelashes in what she hoped was a flirtatious way, and, lowering her head to look up at him through her lashes, quietly added, "I would be devastated... I really care about you."

Marinette swore she saw his complexion flush a little, but it was probably just her wishful thinking. She hoped she hadn't gone too far with using that line at school.

Meanwhile, Adrien felt his spirits soar as his lips quirked into his special smile that he only seemed to show around Marinette. Then he gently replied, "Thanks Marinette. I really care about you, too." Adrien felt very warm and relieved knowing she did care about him after all.

Marinette's face heated up, despite her desperate attempt to keep cool. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and murmured, "Thanks," with a small but equally genuine smile.

Before they could somehow continue on this topic or start on another one, Alya and Nino showed up.

Alya gasped in surprise before dropping Nino's hand and excitedly skipping over to her seat.

"Hey girl, you're here early for once! What's the occasion?" Her smile was blinding and she was way too energetic for the time of day. Marinette was about to tell a white lie, but Alya's head whipped to the side and she spoke again before Marinette could even greet her. "Oh, good morning, Adrien! What were you two talking about before we got here?"

Marinette wanted to shrink down in her seat at the glint in Alya's eyes and the devilish smirk she was wearing. But she needed to keep up her confidence or her plan would never be fruitful.

"We were just discussing yesterday's akuma attack. Turns out both of us were hit and don't remember anything," Adrien responded nonchalantly.

Alya wore a guilty look for a split second, before excitement took over.

"Speaking of which, did you see the Ladyblog? I managed to get the most amazing picture of our superheroes locking lips!!" Alya's question was more directed to Adrien as she had already shown Marinette on the bus yesterday.

Before knowing the truth, Marinette would have wanted to groan and slump down on her desk in mortification for hearing about this topic again. But now knowing Adrien was the one she had kissed... well, she certainly didn't feel like that anymore. In fact, she had to try once again to suppress her blush and prevent herself from totally freaking out.

"It was a great shot, Alya. Those two make a great pair," Adrien commented happily. Nino nodded in agreement as he sat down next to him.

Marinette realized this was a perfect opportunity to throw in a tiny hint. Sitting up straighter and smirking, she said, "True, you could even say they are the _purr_ fect couple," her eyes flitting towards Adrien's as she drawled out the word "perfect" to make it sound like a pun that her partner would appreciate.

A brief look of surprise washed over Adrien's face, but was quickly composed back to his regular model smile. She decided to count that as a minor success in her plan.

Luckily, it seemed like no one else actually caught the pun based on their lack of reactions—aside from the nods and smiles of agreement for her comment, which were to be expected.

Even Adrien was pretty sure he had just imagined Marinette making a pun, seeing as he had never heard her make one before.

"I know, right?! This is a fantastic development for them and the blog viewers are just eating it right up. Seems like everyone is a LadyNoir fan. Which makes sense, because how could you not ship our superhero duo together? They make an awesome team, no one can deny that. I am sure they'd be great together out of the masks as well..." Alya paused, furrowing her brow. "Unfortunately, I'm still working on finding out who they both could be. But I'll find out soon enough, I just know it. Just you guys wait!"

Marinette cringed internally at the irony. Both heroes were right in front of Alya, but she had no idea.

Without realizing it, time had flown by and the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class.

Mlle Bustier cleared her throat and began calling out attendance.

After her name was called, Marinette tuned out the roll call and thought back on the beginning of the day. She had managed to talk to Adrien with more confidence and had even been able to slip in a pun, but nothing really significant had come to pass yet.

 _Baby steps_ , she told herself. She knew that these small successes would build up and would ultimately lead her plan to victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this fic is going to be a bit of a slow build from here on. I love any type of interaction between these two, no matter which side of the love square so I want to take my time and enjoy it. Then again, I am impatient so we will see how long I can last doing a slow build 😂 
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos if you liked it and want more, because they really motivate me and make me happy! 😊❤


	5. Heated Battle!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's just another regular day for Paris' superheroes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Bad jokes galore.
> 
> I apologize in advance for any cringing or facepalming you may experience during this chapter.

Is there such thing as a day off from an akuma attack? Marinette was beginning to wonder if they'd ever get a break. It was only yesterday that their field trip was ruined by Oblivio. And yet, today her class had barely begun and Hawkmoth was already back in action and ready for terrorization, based on the large dragon-type akuma wreaking havoc right outside of their window.

"Everyone out the door! Quickly!" Marinette took charge as class president to get her classmates and teacher out of the room fast and in a somewhat orderly fashion (as orderly as could be, when people are in a state of panic due to chaos).

In the back of her mind, she knew she needed to split away from her peers as soon as possible so that she could transform. She also knew Adrien needed to get away, but he didn't know she knew, so she couldn't risk helping him just yet.

After the last person was out of the room, she spun on her heels and ran in the opposite direction of everyone else. Turning a corner she surveyed her surroundings thoroughly to make sure no one was around. Popping open her purse, she gave Tikki a nod and a wry smirk. "Tikki, spots on!"

Yielding her yo-yo with her usual Ladybug grace and precision, she flew herself out to the front of the building where she had led her classmates to.

She was surprised and unnerved to see Adrien standing protectively at the front of the group as the akuma neared them. The others looked concerned but made no move to pull him back into the group.

Why hadn't he escaped and transformed?! Ladybug made her way towards him as fast as she possibly could.

Just as the akuma inhaled and aimed its powerful jaws at Adrien, ready to let loose a blazing hot trail of fire as it had been doing, Ladybug's yo-yo string snapped out and wrapped snugly around Adrien's torso. She yanked with all her strength to pull him out of harm's way and into her arms. She released the yo-yo's hold on him and then thrust it upwards to snag on the roof. Finding purchase, she hauled herself and Adrien up there.

After safely landing and letting go of Adrien, she turned to him with a soft look, despite her earlier frustration with him. She was relieved she made it in time and he was safe at last.

"Thanks for saving me, Buga-uh-Ladybug." Adrien flushed from his near blunder. Now would not be the time to call her one of Cat Noir's usual nicknames.

Ladybug smirked at his near slip-up, her mask giving her confidence to make her next remark. "Be careful, cutie, or next time you'll get burned," she giggled with a playful wink. There was a double meaning in there that she was sure Adrien would miss but that was fine for now.

She had more important things to take care of. And now, with his new hidden location, her partner should be able to join her shortly after she leapt from the roof.

She whirled around to make her departure, gently urged Adrien to stay safe with her back turned to him, and then bounded away and back into the fray.

"She called me 'cutie,'" Adrien sighed dreamily, holding his hand to his chest.

"Oh jeez," Plagg mumbled under his breath.

"What?" Adrien asked, snapping out of his momentary trance.

"I said CHEESE!" Plagg responded, voice dripping with annoyance.

"Not now, we gotta transform and help Ladybug. Plagg, claws out!" Adrien announced, not giving his kwami another chance to speak or even roll his eyes.

 

* * *

 

"Hey, M'Lady. Sorry to let the show _drag-on_ without me." Chat flashed his pearly whites in a big smile as he dropped in near Ladybug.

"If you keep being late, you're going to get _fired_ ," Ladybug quipped back as she and Chat dodged another flame attack. Then back to business, she added, "The akuma appears to be in the dragon's lip ring."

"That's a bizarre accessory for a winged dinosaur," Chat muttered as he vaulted into to air to avoid a tail whip.

"The problem is getting near his mouth will be no easy task," Ladybug announced as she swung over to where Chat had landed on a nearby rooftop.

"Getting near his mouth probably is simple enough. Not being burnt to a crisp is the real challenge," Chat joked.

Ladybug groaned.

Deciding that now was good as time as any, Ladybug summoned her Lucky Charm.

Two medium-sized cylindrical garbage bins materialized and she caught one in each arm after they fell from the sky.

"Looks like it's time to take out the trash," Chat snickered.

Ladybug bit her tongue to suppress her laughter. His jokes were lame but sometimes they were pretty funny. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of making her laugh, though. She needed to make him fall for her civilian self, not fall harder for Ladybug. Something she was already failing at, seeing as she called him "cutie" and joked with him earlier.

Shaking her head to focus on more important matters, like saving Paris, she surveyed her surroundings but failed to find anything useful to help her.

She realized she needed to find a weakness. Something that would allow them to get closer without becoming a pile of ash. Something that would make the dragon unable to breathe out fire.

"Chat, think you can distract the akuma?" Ladybug ordered.

"Anything for you, My Lady!" With a wink, Chat happily obliged as he leapt back into the heat of the action.

Ladybug observed as Chat got closer. She watched as he danced around, avoiding each of the dragon's attacks. She watched carefully as the dragon inhaled and then breathed fire. She continued to watch and analyze what could be the solution to this heated battle.

_That's it!_

Moving the garbage can in her right arm to join the one in her left, she unlatched her yo-yo from her hip and took a deep, calming breath. This was going to be dangerous.

She leapt off the roof and snagged her yo-yo string around the dragon's neck, swinging under, then up and around, landing on the dragon's scaly head. Using all the speed and agility her superpowers would allow, she dove across its snout and slam-dunked each garbage can into a nostril.

The dragon lifted it's head back and shook it, akin to how a wet dog shakes off water, trying to rid itself Ladybug and its new noseplugs.

"Chat, now!" Ladybug yelled as she untangled her yo-yo, then leapt off the dragon to swing herself to safety.

Chat used his staff to hoist himself up to the dragon's lip ring. Summoning Cataclysm, he managed to graze the offending object.

The black butterfly was instantly released, allowing Ladybug to purify it and send it off with her usual, "Bye, bye, little butterfly."

Chat and Ladybug made their way over to each other and the akuma victim, who had shrunk down to his normal human size.

Picking up the garbage cans, Ladybug somewhat awkwardly threw them in the air and called for the Miraculous Ladybugs to fix everything.

Then, after checking on the victim to ensure he was okay, Ladybug and Chat pounded fists.

"Another one bites the dust, eh Bugaboo?" Chat grinned. Ladybug rolled her eyes but had an amused smirk on her face, which pleased Chat to no end.

It was after all the excitement had finally faded, that Ladybug suddenly truly remembered just _who_ she had fought with, joked with, and fist bumped.

Adrien.

Involuntarily, she felt a rush a blood pool in her cheeks. She cursed her physiological reactions that she had no control over, whenever she thought of or spoke to her crush.

Chat was sure to notice something was up if she didn't hide it well, so she turned around to put her back towards him.

Fortunately, at that same moment, her Miraculous beeped.

"Uh, gotta go, bug out!" Ladybug quickly blurted out and she was gone before Chat could even say goodbye.

He sighed, kind of bummed that he hadn't been able to bring up the kiss they shared after Oblivio. Didn't she say they would talk about it later? He desperately wanted to talk about it during the fight, but he knew she would get upset and so he had patiently waited until after battle—only for her to just leave at the earliest opportunity. She did leave in a hurry though, so she probably had somewhere important to be.

"Oh well, there's always next time," he said, trying to pep himself up. "Plus, I can try wooing her in our civilian lives once I figure out who she is."

(Had Chat been de-transformed, Plagg surely would have scoffed at him for thinking he could figure it out.)

Sighing again, Chat made his way back to school, hoping to work on solving the mystery of Ladybug's elusive civilian identity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up being inspired to finish this chapter today instead of sleeping some more (I took the day off work since I was feeling exhausted). I hope it turned out okay!
> 
> By the way, coming up with akumas, lucky charms, and writing action scenes is hard and not my forte. I'm sorry if it was difficult to follow or if it seemed rushed or anything like that!
> 
> I'd love to hear what you thought of this chapter! And if you are enjoying the story (and haven't left one yet), I always appreciate a kudos! Thank you ❤


	6. Macarons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette wants to get closer to Adrien, so she must muster her courage to spend more time with him!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated this in a while because of Adrinette April. So even though my priority should be Adrinette April prompts because I fell behind on them, I instead chose to finish up this chapter. Because reasons. (Mostly because I can't find any inspiration for the prompts, but I found some for this chapter!)
> 
> Anyway, it's been a while since I have written for this fic and I almost don't remember what has happened, so I hope that I still know what I am doing and that this chapter doesn't disappoint!

"I don't know if I can do this," Marinette whispered to her kwami.

"It'll be fine, Marinette," Tikki reassured, her head poking out of Marinette's purse. "You've planned out what you're going to say. You've practiced it with me. And remember, Adrien is your partner and he is in love with your bravery and wit."

"Yeah, but... I just know my mind is going to go blank and I'm going to forget everything I planned to say," Marinette whined and pouted.

"Don't focus on exact wording, Marinette. Remember the subject and let the words flow naturally. If you try to say your rehearsed speech by memory, you're bound to sound robotic and awkward. And that's if you do manage to say it word-for-word, which is unlikely," Tikki advised. "No offense on that last comment. It's just that we both have been witnesses of you trying to use rote memory as a tool for speaking to him. It's not an effective method."

Marinette sighed. Tikki was right as usual, though what was with her subtle roasts lately? Marinette realized Tikki was probably trying to be straight with her so that she didn't make a fool of herself again. Which was valid. It was time for progress, not for backpedaling to her old stuttering, nonsensical ways.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette focused. "Mission 'Ask AA to hang out' commencing," she murmured, summoning her courage.

She waited for the signature car that Adrien was dropped off in. She had gotten back to school early in order to catch him before lunch was over. She just hoped he didn't arrive too close to the end of lunch time, otherwise it wouldn't give her much time to ask.

After several more minutes of waiting, with Tikki trying to soothe Marinette's nerves with casual conversation to take her mind off what she was about to do, Adrien finally arrived.

Patting her own cheeks in an attempt to calm herself and focus, Marinette jogged over to his car as he stepped out.

"Hey," Marinette greeted him with an awkwardly forced smile.

"Oh, hey Marinette!" He returned her greeting with his usual cheer.

"I made some passion fruit flavoured macarons today during lunch," Marinette said successfully, internally jumping for joy for not stuttering.

"Oh, wow, Marinette. That's great," Adrien commented, not even remotely aware of the possibility that she had made them for him.

"And, um, anyway, I made too many. And macarons don't stay fresh for very long. And I think I recall you saying you like that flavour. So, um, what I wanted to say was..." Marinette hesitated and Adrien patiently waited for her to finish. His smile was breathtaking. She was a goner. Her brain began turning to mush. But she had to keep going. "Would you like some? To come over and eat me? I MEAN, WITH ME! I mean, would you like to eat over and come with me?" Marinette screamed internally, cursing her poor wording to hell.

Adrien had a deer-in-headlights expression, before he burst in to laughter.

Well, at least he was laughing and not running away from her. That was a good sign, right? However, that fact did not stop the Ladybug-red flush that spread across her face. She awkwardly chuckled as his laughter slowly subsided.

Once he had finally managed to stop laughing, Adrien clarified on Marinette's behalf, "You want me to come over and share the macarons with you?"

Marinette vehemently nodded, not trusting herself to speak coherently at this point.

"Sure, I'd love to," he said with a friendly grin. He was genuinely looking forward to it; he loved her macarons. Not to mention, he didn't often get to spend time with his friend, Marinette, outside of class and he would love to get to know her some more.

"Great! Well, um, w-we better get to glass—err, class!" She smiled awkwardly. Why had she spoken to him so much better yesterday? She sighed internally, disappointed in herself.

But then a moment later, she was proud of herself as she came to the realization that he had happily agreed to come over. Meaning that, despite the poor execution, her mission 'Ask AA to hang out' was a resounding success!

They walked to class together, Adrien doing most of the talking and Marinette nodding along and trying to focus on not tripping on thin air.

 

* * *

 

School was almost over before she knew it. Marinette had texted Alya during class to let her know about her plans with Adrien and to ask her and Nino to pretend they were busy and unable to make it.

Alya had, of course, agreed to this, but that hadn't stopped her from giggling and shooting her suggestive glances throughout the rest of the day. She also had demanded to be given all the "deets" about it later on.

Marinette felt her pulse spike when the bell rang to indicate school was over for the day.

Adrien turned around in his seat to look at his three friends. "So are we all going to Marinette's now?" he asked with an excited grin on his face.

"Sorry Adrien, I already told Mari I can't make it," Alya said in mock-apology but the amusement was evident in her eyes.

"Same, bro," Nino pitched in. He was not great at lying to his best bud, so he said as few words as possible. "Sorry."

"Maybe next time, though!" Alya added, then gave a wave as she nudged Nino. Nino, sporting an awkward grin, waved as well and Alya practically dragged him out of the classroom.

After a somewhat awkward pause, Adrien got out of his seat and gave all his attention to Marinette, which made Marinette want to squirm in her seat.

"I guess it's just you and me," Adrien commented, hope filling his voice. "If that's okay with you?"

"Yes! Of course!" Marinette hastily replied, internally cringing at her overly-enthusiastic reply. "Let's go." She gave him a big smile, despite the nervous feelings swirling within.

Adrien's smile in return was blindingly sweet.

They gathered their things and put away unneeded textbooks in their lockers, making very idle chitchat, with Adrien doing most of the talking.

Their walk to her home was much the same.

Marinette's parents happily greeted Marinette when she entered, but their expressions grew knowing when they saw who was in tow behind her.

"Hi Adrien," Sabine smiled.

"How are you doing, son?" Tom asked, his smile mirroring his wife's.

"Hello, I'm doing great, thank you," Adrien returned their smiles, feeling the warmth from their simple greetings. "How are you?"

Tom chuckled and slapped him on the shoulder merrily, "We're great and we are glad to see you here again." He threw in a wink for good measure.

Marinette was doing her utmost to act nonchalant and not completely mortified.

With a tight smile, Marinette said, "Okay, well, we're going to go upstairs now! Bye!"

She began making her way to her room, not even checking to see if Adrien was following; she just assumed he would be.

It wasn't until they were in her room that Marinette felt she could breathe a little better. She had, of course, removed her pictures of him to avoid making it weird. Even if he did know, she doubted either of them would feel comfortable having tons of Adrien's pictures staring at them.

"Your parents are always so nice," Adrien commented, a hint of jealously lacing his voice.

"Yeah," Marinette agreed. "But they're so overbearing sometimes." She sighed.

Adrien didn't see that as a bad thing, but decided to leave it at that.

"Anyway, I'm sure you must want some macarons!" Marinette changed the subject. Then she realized that they were in the kitchen. "I'll go grab them and be right back!"

Adrien glanced around her room while she was gone. He had been here before, and it was just as cozy as last time. He took a look at the articles of clothing she had on mannequins and the ones laying around. She really was talented; he had complete faith her abilities would lead her to success in fashion or anything she wanted to do in life.

He was admiring one of her leather jackets when she returned with a plate filled with delicious smelling treats.

"Do you like that one?" she asked, referring to the jacket. It was her latest creation, though it was something she had worked on before she knew his identity.

"Yeah, it's really cool," he said with a tone full of praise and adoration. Marinette felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach.

"Thanks," she replied bashfully. She almost left it there but decided to continue to see his reaction. "It was actually inspired by Chat Noir's superhero suit."

Adrien's eyes brightened at that. Had she not known better, she would have thought it was simply because superheroes are cool and everyone loves them. But she knew better; she knew he was Chat Noir and that she had probably stroked his ego with that comment.

"That's really neat, Marinette. I'm sure Chat Noir would be ecstatic to hear he has inspired awesome Marinette Dupain-Cheng designs," Adrien said with a wink.

There it was: his Chat-like personality was slipping through. It was so bizarre to witness. Mere days ago, she would have never made the connection. Now, all she was doing was comparing him. Which she needed to stop or she would give herself away too soon or she would make things awkward (more likely the latter, of course).

Marinette giggled. "I don't know about that, but thanks." She stepped closer and held out the plate. "Macaron?"

"Yes, please!" Adrien enthusiastically replied as he popped one in his mouth. The delicious flavour coated his tastebuds and he found himself moaning in bliss without thinking. When he realized what noise had escaped him, he swallowed the remains of the macaron and gave a sheepish grin and chuckle. "Sorry, it was just so damn good."

Marinette covered her mouth to try and contain her giggles. He was so adorable and sweet. And, not that she would ever admit to it out loud, but his moan had done things to her—specifically, it had warmed the pit of her stomach. It was a strange, but not entirely unwelcome, sensation, she realized she felt her cheeks warm up a bit.

To distract herself from that line of thought about his moans, she popped a macaron in her mouth.

"Mmm," she hummed in agreement. It was damn good. He was damn good. His moans were damn good.

_Stop it, Marinette!_

"Oh!" she gasped suddenly, realizing she probably wasn't being the most gracious host. "By the way, you can have a seat. And I can get you a drink if you're thirsty?"

Adrien smiled and sat on her lounge chaise. "I'm okay, I have some water in my bag." He pulled out a bottle of water as if to prove his statement and took a swig.

Marinette sat next to him and tried not to stare directly at him as his Adam's apple bobbed as he chugged his drink.

God, she was thirsty. And not in the needing-hydration kind of way, but in the hormonal-teenager-alone-with-a-crush kind of way.

What was wrong with her right now?

Marinette shook her head to try and clear her mind.

"D-did you want to play some Ultimate Mecha Strike III?" she offered, hoping for a distraction. She really needed one.

"Sure! But just so you know, I've been practicing a bit," Adrien said with a mischievous grin.

God, he was sexy.

Mentally berating herself for going down that line of thought again, Marinette plopped and spun around on her computer chair.

"Oh, you're on," she smirked in return. "And just so you know, I won't be going easy on you."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Adrien replied as he joined her by sitting on her other computer chair.

They shared a smile and both grabbed their remote controllers. This time they didn't accidentally grab each others hands, which Marinette was both thankful for (no awkward moment!) and slightly disappointed by (but also no touching his hand...).

She booted up the game and they both got really into it straight away.

After several minutes, things began getting a little heated as their competitive natures took over.

"Hehe, take that!"

"Ugh, hey!"

"Pfft, is that all you got? I thought you said you practiced?" Marinette taunted.

"I said I practiced it a bit!" Adrien retorted. "Not that I played day and night, unlike some people, it would seem..."

"Are you implying I practiced twenty-four seven?" Marinette asked in mock-offense. "Because I promise you, it was no more than eight hours per day. I have to sleep and eat and go to school, too."

"Hmm. I bet you play in your sleep, too," Adrien countered. "And that still counts as practice you know. Muscle memory and all that."

Marinette and Adrien continued their back-and-forth and eventually broke down in giggles over their silly banter—after Marinette had thoroughly kicked Adrien's ass, of course.

As their laughter subsided, they gave each other soft looks and had a small moment of comfortable silence.

That moment was quickly interrupted, however, by Marinette's parents poking their heads into her room.

"Adrien, honey, will you be staying for dinner?" Sabine asked. "We're having pot au feu tonight."

"Thanks for the offer, Mme Cheng, but I didn't get permission from my father, so I think it's best I go home for today. I'm being picked up in about..." Adrien glanced at the time on his phone and his eyes widened at all the time that had flew by. "Five minutes."

"Well, I hope you can stay next time. We would love to have you, you know," Sabine replied sweetly. "Also, you can call me Sabine, dear."

"And you can call me, Tom, son." Tom piped in with a broad grin and a wink.

Marinette buried her face in her hands to hide her complete embarrassment. They were treating Adrien like he was a boyfriend or fiancé! He was probably so uncomfortable, he would probably never want to come over again, then they would never be able to bond further and she would have to give up on romancing him and he would probably find another girl who didn't have crazy parents and—

"Wow, thanks so much Sabine and Tom! I'd love to stay for dinner next time!" Adrien enthused, putting Marinette's catastrophisizing to rest.

With that, Marinette's parents bid him farewell and goodnight.

They were alone again, but before either of them could say anything, his phone started ringing.

"Oh, it's the Gorilla," Adrien said with a forlorn expression. "I guess he's here early."

Adrien answered the phone and told his bodyguard that he would be down in a minute before hanging up. The two began making their way to the front entrance to say goodbye.

"Hey, um, did you want to take some macarons home?" Marinette offered, as they descended the stairs.

Adrien's face brightened at the idea, but immediately fell.

"I appreciate the offer, Marinette, but I don't think my father would approve."

Seeing the disappointment written clearly on his face, Marinette decided he would have the macarons whether his father liked it or not. This boy deserved all the macarons in the world and she wouldn't take no for an answer.

"That's okay. I will bring it to school tomorrow and you can eat them there instead," Marinette said with a tone that left no room for argument, lifting finger to her lips to signify it would be their secret.

Adrien gave her a dreamy smile filled with gratitude.

"Thanks, Marinette."

Having arrived at the entrance, they both said their goodbyes and left with the promise of eating macarons together tomorrow at school.

As Adrien got into the car and was driven away, Marinette let out a happy squeal of victory. She had made some decent progress with their friendship today.

(Not to mention, she got to admire his beauty from up close for a little while!)

It was a great day. And she was positive the days were only going to get better from here on out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that was some decent Adrienette for you! And I hope the length of the chapter kind of made up for my absence from this fic!
> 
> Next chapter is Marichat! So if you like that pairing, be sure to leave a comment and provide me with some love as it motivates me greatly! ❤


	7. From the Horse's Mouth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette reflects on her day with Adrien before receiving a visit from said beloved boy (dressed in cat ears and leather).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I disappeared for so long. I haven't given up on this fic, I just had a huge life event keep me from writing for the past few months.
> 
> I explained the life event in my author's note in Protect chapter 4. But to explain it briefly here: my husband nearly died in a motorcycle accident. But he's recovering and doing much better now and I have finally returned to work. 
> 
> Anyway, work keeps me busy and I'm still very drained. I apologize for not replying to all the comments I've received; I promise I'll get around to it some point soon! And I'll do my best to get back to writing fics.

After Marinette had dinner with her parents, she went back to her room and squealed to Tikki about her hang out with Adrien.

"I actually managed to stay conscious and can remember everything that happened! And I was able to talk to him with very little stuttering!" Marinette gushed to her kwami.

"I'm proud of you, Marinette," Tikki said with pride and gave her chosen a cheek hug/nuzzle. "I knew you would be fine. Your anxiety makes everything seem worse than it actually is."

"You're right, Tikki," Marinette said with a blissful sigh as she spun in her chair.

But then Marinette realized something, which quickly made her thoughts spiral again. While the time shared with Adrien had been really nice, there was still a big problem.

She was walking straight into the greatly feared "friendzone" that she had read about.

Marinette suddenly grabbed her head as she cried, "This is a disaster!"

Tikki pursed her lips at the outburst. How the heck had her holder come to that conclusion?

Marinette scratched her head as she worried about the mistake she had just made. She had just hung out with Adrien and there hadn't been even an ounce of romance. They hadn't touched, hugged, or even given a French faire la bise farewell. While there some kind of progress towards friendship, it wasn't the progress she truly wanted! The goal was sickly sweet, heart-throbbing, butterflies-in-your-stomach romance, not merely friendship!

Marinette voiced these worries to her kwami in desperate hopes of reassurance.

"You know," Tikki began. "Romance can start with friendship. In fact, I would say it's better that way. If you can't get along with someone as a friend, why would you be able to get along with them as a couple?"

"But, Tikki, once you end up in the friendzone, there is no escape!" Marinette gestured around with her hands, dramatically, as she made the bold declaration as if it were a cold, hard fact.

Which it wasn't, of course.

"That's simply not true, Marinette. What gave you that idea?"

"... Magazines, TV, the internet!" Marinette listed off, as though they were valid sources of information.

"You can't believe everything you read or hear about on social media," Tikki lectured. "Please Marinette, I know you're smarter than that."

Marinette's cheeks turned pink in shame. Tikki had a good point. But Marinette was a teenager. Where else could she get that type of information? It's not like scholarly articles wrote about that sort of thing... right? (But they do; there are tons of studies on love.)

"I guess," Marinette mumbled. "But still... Adrien only sees me as a friend. I bet the only way to get him to see me as anything more is if I tell him I'm Ladybug..."

"Marinette! We've been over this already!" Tikki cried in exasperation. She had to wonder if Adrien was as silly as her chosen was. If so, Plagg was probably suffering and not handling it as well as she could. The thought made a giggle slip out.

"Why are you laughing at my suffering??" Marinette whined melodramatically.

"Sorry, I just thought of something funny. Don't worry about it," Tikki said, stifling the remaining giggles that threatened to burst from her mouth. "Anyway, stop thinking that way. What is it going to take to convince you that you are Ladybug and that Adrien loves you as a person, not just an identity?"

"You'll probably need to tell me at least two million more times. Or maybe I need Adrien to say it to my face... not that that will ever happen." Marinette buried her face in her hands and sighed. Then her phone buzzed with a text. Marinette checked it and saw it was from Alya, then muttered, "I should probably call Alya so she doesn't worry about me. I'm sure she is also dying to hear about how it went with Adrien."

Suddenly, a thud resounded from Marinette's roof.

Curious, she decided to postpone her phone call for now and investigate to see what—or who—it was.

As she poked her head out, her gaze met with a familiar green feline-like one.

Chat Noir.

Her eyes widened. She almost hadn't expected him to visit her again as Chat after she had confessed her "feelings" for him and he had turned her down. He had hugged her and mentioned not wanting to her hurt but she figured it was still too awkward for him to see her after that.

Then she remembered, she had technically confessed to Adrien!

... And she had kissed Chat/Adrien after the battle with Oblivio!!!

And Adrien was the one here on her roof!

And he was also in her room earlier!

This was too weird.

Shaking her head to stop her thoughts from barrelling in that direction and doing her best to retain her natural skin colour (instead of lobster red), she climbed onto the roof. Tripping over her words due to her prior train of thought, she asked, "H-hi. Um, w-what are you doing here?"

Chat hesitated.

Marinette gave him what she hoped was an encouraging smile.

"I just wanted to check up on you. To make sure you're really okay after what happened," he scratched the back of his neck in a very Adrien-like gesture. Which made sense, as he was Adrien. It just was strange for Marinette to see. She was still perplexed to see them as one and the same, despite all the logic Tikki spewed at her the other day. Clearing his throat and interrupting Marinette's thoughts he added, "After some more thinking, I realized that you may have been putting up a front and pretending you were okay."

Marinette was pleasantly surprised to hear he had thought more deeply about her and her feelings. Maybe there was hope for him to like her Marinette side? But she remained silent, thinking on how to respond.

"You must regret falling for someone like me. Someone who couldn't even give you a chance," he continued solemnly. "I really am sorry."

His sincerity made her heart clench. It almost felt like he was rejecting her again and this time it did hurt because she knew his true identity.

Marinette sighed and looked down, avoiding his powerful stare. It was easier to speak to him when she wasn't analyzing how much he looked like Adrien (because he is Adrien!).

Taking a deep breath first then exhaling, she replied, "I don't regret it. You're a great guy, more thoughtful and sweet than I ever imagined," she paused, then gathered her courage to look up at him. "I think you're amazing. I only wish I could measure up to Ladybug... and be amazing like her."

His eyes widened as if she had just told him shocking and terrible news.

"You're amazing as well, Marinette!" He told her firmly. "You may not be a superhero, but you're amazing in other ways. I've seen your designs and I know you'll go places with your skills and get the recognition you deserve. Plus, everyone loves you—you have an amazing personality and are always helping people. You are amazing like Ladybug, just in a different way."

Marinette's face warmed from all the compliments. Finally, she felt like she was really truly seeing Adrien underneath the mask.

They really were the same person (no matter how many times Tikki told her and she repeated it to herself, it was true that seeing was believing).

But still, Marinette's heart still hurt. Chat Noir—Adrien—had still preferred Ladybug over Marinette. And no matter how many times Tikki reassured her that Ladybug and herself were one and the same (and both kickass awesome), she still had this niggling feeling that her civilian self couldn't match her superhero self.

Marinette knew she probably shouldn't, but she decided to ask anyway as she knew she could only truly believe what came from his lips, "If, hypothetically speaking, Ladybug didn't exist... would you have considered being with me...?"

Marinette almost instantly regretted asking such a selfish, childish thing, but it was too late.

Chat went quiet, thinking on how to reply as he looked up into the night sky. He hadn't really consciously considered Marinette before. She was his friend and that's all they had ever been, in and out of the mask.

But if there had been no Ladybug?

It was hard, almost painful, for Chat to imagine, but he owed Marinette a real answer after hurting her. So he thought about it.

After a few minutes of silence, Marinette's anxiety couldn't take it anymore.

"You know what? N-never mind, that was an unfair question. I-I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry," Marinette looked down again, trying her best to hide the hurt in her eyes and her voice.

"No, it's okay," he said, swallowing, looking at her again. "I was just thinking. I want to give you a proper answer."

Marinette nodded, still unable to look at him, even as he placed his hands gently on her shoulders.

"I would have. Definitely." Marinette caught him cringing as she looked up at him again, and her eyes widened with shock. "Sorry, I know it's probably not right for me to say that, because in the end, Ladybug does exist. But I just need you to know that you really are that amazing, Marinette."

Marinette couldn't stop the enormous smile that spread across her face from relief. "Thank you, that's sweet of you to say that and to indulge in my silly hypothetical question."

Chat chuckled, glad to see her back to her more usual self.

"Can I ask one more, though?" Marinette hesitated again. She was really pushing her luck here. But she desperately wanted confirmation from the boy himself.

He slowly nodded, hoping it would be less difficult than the last one.

"If, hypothetically, Ladybug ended up being someone average—and again, this is hypothetical—such as me, would you still love her? Or..." Marinette gulped. "Would you be secretly disappointed?"

"I already told you this, but let me repeat it: you're amazing," Chat repeated. "So, of course I would still love you—I mean, her!—if that's who she ended up being. And I definitely wouldn't be disappointed. Quite the opposite, in fact."

Marinette felt ready to melt into a puddle. She wanted to jump for joy and squeal and hug the crap out of him and kiss him!

But she settled for a sincere smile. "Thank you, that means a lot to me," she whispered, the blush having returned to her cheeks.

Chat was a little confused about all the hypothetical questions, but he was glad to have made his friend happy and eased her pain from his prior rejection.

"So, anything else?" he asked. Then smirking and winking, he added, "Or have you had enough of my _paw_ esome _purr_ esence?"

Marinette rolled her eyes, feeling affection rise in her for the silly boy.

"Well, it's difficult to say," Marinette smirked in return, then tapped her chin in mock-thought. "But I think, I've had my full dose of Vitamin U for today."

Chat's eyes widened in shock before he burst into laughter. "That was great!"

Marinette giggled in return. She was putting her plan back into action now: get Adrien's interest and drop him hints.

"Thanks, kitten. Vitamin C you later," she winked and flicked his bell as she turned to go back to her bedroom.

Chat was laughing again as he said, "Goodbye Princess," and leapt from the roof in departure.

Marinette's worries had finally been thoroughly soothed and put to rest (Tikki wished her chosen would have just believed her in the first place, but she understood that Marinette's anxiety and low self-esteem were hard to put at ease). Now, the teenage superhero was excited to make more progress and to play with her kitty.

But first she'd have to update Alya with (most of) the details of her time with Adrien, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote this chapter quite a long time ago but I struggled with it because I hated Marinette asking the hypothetical questions. But I think I'm okay with it now. She's a young girl with anxiety and somewhat low self-esteem (then again, what girl doesn't have low self-esteem at that age? I know I still do at age 26...). Anyway, I think it's not that weird for her to want to hear reassurance from Adrien himself. Hopefully you'll agree with me. (And if not, well no one is forcing you to read this!)
> 
> Anyway, please leave comments and kudos if you still like this fic. It really warms my heart and motivates me! ❤


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